Vehicle propulsion system having an energy storage system and optimized method of controlling operation thereof

Abstract

A control system for controlling the supply of power from an energy storage system to a DC bus of a vehicle propulsion system is disclosed herein. The control system includes a controller programmed to monitor real-time operating parameters of a plurality of energy storage units of the energy storage system, access degradation models for the plurality of energy storage units, and optimize usage of the plurality of energy storage units during real-time operation of the vehicle propulsion system based on the degradation models.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle comprising:
 a propulsion system comprising:
 an energy storage unit; 
 a traction motor; and 
 at least one voltage converter coupled between the energy storage unit and the traction motor; and 
   a controller for the propulsion system configured with a database, the controller being programmed to control the propulsion system based on at least one of historical acceleration events and deceleration events related to positions of the vehicle, the historical acceleration events and deceleration events stored on the database.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control a speed of the traction motor based on the historical acceleration events and deceleration events. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the traction motor is an AC motor and an inverter is coupled is coupled between the energy storage unit and the traction motor. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a bi-directional DC/DC converter is coupled between the energy storage unit and the traction motor. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control the bi-directional DC/DC converter to control a speed of the traction motor based on the historical acceleration events and deceleration events. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the database further stores a scheduled speed. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control a speed of the traction motor based on the scheduled speed and a measured speed. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , further comprising a sensing device for determining a position of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 8 , wherein the sensing device is programmed to determine the position of the vehicle based global positioning system (GPS) location information. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the traction motor is an AC motor, an inverter is coupled to the traction motor, and a bidirectional DC/DC converter is coupled between the inverter and the energy storage unit. 
     
     
         11 . A vehicle comprising:
 a propulsion system comprising:
 an energy storage unit; 
 a traction motor; and 
 at least one voltage converter coupled between the energy storage unit and the traction motor; and 
   a controller for the propulsion system programmed to control the propulsion system based on one or more deceleration trends related to a geographic location of the vehicle.   
     
     
         12 . The vehicle of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control a speed of the traction motor based on the deceleration trends. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle of  claim 11 , wherein the traction motor is an AC motor and an inverter is coupled between the traction motor and the energy storage unit. 
     
     
         14 . The vehicle of  claim 11 , wherein a bi-directional DC/DC converter is coupled between the traction motor and the energy storage unit. 
     
     
         15 . The vehicle of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control the bi-directional DC/DC converter to control a speed of the traction motor based on the deceleration trends. 
     
     
         16 . The vehicle of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured with a database for storing the deceleration trends. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle of  claim 16 , wherein the database further stores a scheduled speed for the traction motor. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle of  claim 16 , wherein the controller is further programmed to control a speed of the traction motor based on the scheduled speed and a measured speed. 
     
     
         19 . The vehicle of  claim 11 , further comprising a sensing device for determining a position of the vehicle along a route. 
     
     
         20 . The vehicle of  claim 19 , wherein the sensing device is programmed to determine the position of the vehicle based on global positioning system (GPS) location information.